Editorial

Heartache touches the Heartland

Thursday, September 6, 2012

Our hearts ache for Blue Hill, Nebraska today as word is released of four fatalities and multiple serious injuries in a school bus-semitrailer crash occurring Wednesday afternoon.

The bus driver and semitrailer driver were both killed in the crash, as well as two children. One child was life-flighted to Omaha and other children were taken to Mary Lanning Hospital in Hastings. All of the injured children are between 6 and 10 years old.

The semitrailer was carrying a load of hay and caught fire, which spread to the school bus.

The Webster County town, with a population of less than 900 people about 20 miles south of Hastings, has much in common with many communities in Southwest Nebraska.

The community revolves around family, faith, and agriculture. Coffee shop talk revolves around football games and irrigation issues. They are proud of their Bobcats, golf course, parks, baseball and softball fields, and public basketball and tennis courts. The school is the lifeblood of the community. The same last names crop up multiple times in yearbooks and sports pages of the newspaper, as several generations plant roots that spread wide and run deep.

The accident happened between 4:30 and 4:45 Wednesday afternoon at the intersection of County Road 1800 and County Road R southeast of Blue Hill. They were returning home from school in Blue Hill.

Riding the bus to school is a rite of passage that many young students look forward to with excited anticipation. Rural toddlers watch from the window as older siblings mount the stairs to load onto that big yellow bus and begin their day in the world of reading, writing and arithmetic. They eagerly wait for the day when they, too, are old enough to ride the bus everyday, backpacks loaded to meet every conceivable need that may await them in the classroom and on the playground.

Many rural students climb on that school bus early in the morning, often watching the last stars of the night turn to daylight as they embark on their daily trip across the dirt and gravel roads to pick up their friends and neighbors. They often do not get returned to their home destination until late in the afternoon, worn out, but full of tales of their day to share with Mom and Dad and younger brothers and sisters.

Those of us who rode the bus daily in a small town know the special bond that develops between student and bus driver. Unlike teachers who change every year as students move up the educational ladder, often the same bus driver transports the student each year until they reach that magical age of being able to drive themselves to school on a school permit.

The driver knows the family intimately. He or she knows which families have a tendency to always be running late and which children need firm supervision during the trip. He or she knows his passengers' parents, grandparents, and siblings, the church they attend, and any health issues the family may be experiencing.

As we send our heartfelt condolences and prayers to the families involved in this gut-wrenching experience, let us also not take for granted those who touch our lives on a daily basis and shape who we become as adults.

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  • At the end of every tragedy, God.

    The 'death' we see as an Exit,

    is in reality, the Entrance,

    Home.

    Thank you for the article.

    -- Posted by Navyblue on Fri, Sep 7, 2012, at 11:05 AM
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